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comment by JakobVirgil
JakobVirgil  ·  4645 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Tragic Stories of Great Mathematicians
I have a theory that "schizophrenia" in a mathematician has a different cause.

Hint # 1 it is not genetics, Cthulhu or cats.

Hint # 2 It is amphetamine abuse





riemannman  ·  4644 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Well I know that Erdos sure liked his amphetamines, but I can't seem to guess what your schizophrenia theory is.
JakobVirgil  ·  4644 days ago  ·  link  ·  
not schizophrenia at all but drug induced psychosis. In my experience there are two kinds of mathematics speed and hash. <-- only kinda a joke. I do not partake myself but then again I am not that good of a mathematician. It is very tempting when in the middle of a proof to stay up as long as possible for me I did not use any stimulant unless working on overnight proof then energy drinks mostly and yerba Mate.

My cocktail was a 64 ounce mountain dew with a redbull poured into it until I found the the QT let you fill 64 ounces drinks with their in house energy drink rooster booster then I used that. 3 or 4 through the night with a few cups of yerba mate of course faithfully not using caffeine the rest of the time.

riemannman  ·  4644 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Well, one day I hope to be a mathematician. Maybe I should start deciding between speed and hash...

Maybe I'll just stick with coffee :)

JakobVirgil  ·  4644 days ago  ·  link  ·  
have you ever got proof-stoned worked on a proof so deeply you have a hard time driving a car? coffee works fine.
riemannman  ·  4644 days ago  ·  link  ·  
Honestly usually my hardest work has been at nighttime - and I usually don't drive my car very late. In fact I mostly use my car to drive to and from my hometown, so I don't drive all that much. But I definitely know that feeling haha. Coffee has gotten me through many a night